Jeremiah 6:12

6:12 Their houses will be turned over to others

as will their fields and their wives.

For I will unleash my power ¹ 

against those who live in this land,”

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 7:25

7:25 From the time your ancestors departed the land of Egypt until now, ²  I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again, ³  day after day. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 10:18

10:18 For the Lord says, “I will now throw out

those who live in this land.

I will bring so much trouble on them

that they will actually feel it.” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 11:7

11:7 For I solemnly warned your ancestors to obey me. ⁶  I warned them again and again, ⁷  ever since I delivered them out of Egypt until this very day.

Jeremiah 20:8

20:8 For whenever I prophesy, ⁸  I must cry out, ⁹ 

“Violence and destruction are coming!” ¹⁰ 

This message from the Lord ¹¹  has made me

an object of continual insults and derision.

Jeremiah 27:10

27:10 Do not listen to them, ¹²  because their prophecies are lies. ¹³  Listening to them will only cause you ¹⁴  to be taken far away from your native land. I will drive you out of your country and you will die in exile. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 37:5

37:5 At that time the Babylonian forces ¹⁶  had temporarily given up their siege against Jerusalem. ¹⁷  They had had it under siege, but withdrew when they heard that the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt. ¹⁸ )

Jeremiah 38:10

38:10 Then the king gave Ebed Melech the Ethiopian the following order: “Take thirty ¹⁹  men with you from here and go pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.”

[6:12]  ¹ tn Heb “I will reach out my hand.” This figure involves both comparing God to a person (anthropomorphism) and substitution (metonymy) where hand is put for the actions or exertions of the hand. A common use of “hand” is for the exertion of power or strength (cf. BDB 290 s.v. יָד 2 and 289-90 s.v. יָד 1.e(2); cf. Deut 34:12; Ps 78:42; Jer 16:21).

[7:25]  ² tn Heb “from the day your ancestors…until this very day.” However, “day” here is idiomatic for “the present time.”

[7:25]  ³ tn On the Hebrew idiom see the note at 7:13.

[7:25]  ⁴ tc There is some textual debate about the legitimacy of this expression here. The text reads merely “day” (יוֹם, yom). BHS suggests the word is to be deleted as a dittography of the plural ending of the preceding word. The word is in the Greek and Latin, and the Syriac represents the typical idiom “day after day” as though the noun were repeated. Either יוֹם has dropped out by haplography or a ם (mem) has been left out, i.e., reading יוֹמָם (yomam, “daily”).

[10:18]  ³ tn The meaning of this last line is somewhat uncertain: Heb “I will cause them distress in order that [or with the result that] they will find.” The absence of an object for the verb “find” has led to conjecture that the text is wrong. Some commentators follow the lead of the Greek and Latin versions which read the verb as a passive: “they will be found,” i.e., be caught and captured. Others follow a suggestion by G. R. Driver (“Linguistic and Textual Problems: Jeremiah,” JQR 28 [1937-38]: 107) that the verb be read not as “they will find” (יִמְצָאוּ [yimtsa’u] from מָצָא [matsa’]) but “they will be squeezed/ drained” (יִמְצוּ [yimtsu] from מָצָה [matsah]). The translation adopted assumes that this is an example of the ellipsis of the object supplied from the context (cf. E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 8-12). For a similar nuance for the verb “find” = “feel/experience” see BDB 592 s.v. מָצָא Qal.1.f and compare the usage in Ps 116:3.

[11:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “warned them…saying, ‘Obey me.’” However, it allows the long sentence to be broken up easier if the indirect quote is used.

[11:7]  ⁵ tn For the explanation for this rendering see the note on 7:13.

[20:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “speak,” but the speaking is in the context of speaking as a prophet.

[20:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “I cry out, I proclaim.”

[20:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “Violence and destruction.”

[20:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “the word of the Lord.” For the use of כִּי…כִּי (ki…ki) here in the sense of “for…and” see KBL 432 s.v. כּי 10.

[27:10]  ⁶ tn The words “Don’t listen to them” have been repeated from v. 9a to pick up the causal connection between v. 9a and v. 10 that is formally introduced by a causal particle in v. 10 in the original text.

[27:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “they are prophesying a lie.”

[27:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “lies will result in your being taken far…” (לְמַעַן [lÿma’an] + infinitive). This is a rather clear case of the particle לְמַעַן introducing result (contra BDB 775 s.v. מַעַן note 1. There is no irony in this statement; it is a bold prediction).

[27:10]  ⁹ tn The words “out of your country” are not in the text but are implicit in the meaning of the verb. The words “in exile” are also not in the text but are implicit in the context. These words have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[37:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the rendering “Babylonian.” The word “forces” is supplied in the translation here for the sake of clarity.

[37:5]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[37:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “And the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt and the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard a report about them and they went up from besieging them.” The sentence has been restructured and reworded to give greater emphasis to the most pertinent fact, i.e., that the siege had been temporarily lifted. The word “temporarily” is not in the text but is implicit from the rest of the context. It is supplied in the translation here to better show that the information in vv. 4-5 is all parenthetical, providing a background for the oracle that will follow. For the meaning “given up their siege against” (Heb “had taken themselves away from against”) see BDB 749 s.v. עָלָה Niph.1.c(2); 759 s.v. עַל IV.2.b.

[38:10]  ⁸ tc Some modern English versions (e.g., NRSV, REB, TEV) and commentaries read “three” on the basis that thirty men would not be necessary for the task (cf. J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 231). Though the difference in “three” and “thirty” involves minimal emendation (שְׁלֹשָׁה [shÿlosha] for שְׁלֹשִׁים [shÿloshim]) there is no textual or versional evidence for it except for one Hebrew ms. Perhaps the number was large to prevent the officials from hindering Ebed Melech from accomplishing the task.